Docs, pols don’t see eye to eye on legislation

ALBANY >> Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislators are known for passing big bills like the SAFE Act, gay marriage and casino gambling at the drop of a hat, without much debate, public hearings or even advance notice.

And they eagerly devote time to what critics deride as trivial topics, as the state Senate did earlier this month in voting to declare yogurt New York’s “official state snack.”

Meanwhile, other bills are never bought up for a vote, like one to put optometrists on an equal footing with other doctors when it comes to dispensing prescription drugs. New York is only one of two states that prohibit optometrists — the most common providers of eye care — from writing prescription for oral medications.

Asked why, Saratoga Springs optometrist Dawn Chivers said, “That’s a very good question. The Legislature has been slow to move on our issue. It has been in front of them for at least 13 years.”

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“There’s push-back from ophthalmology,” said Christopher Colburn of Jamestown, the president-elect of New York State Optometric Association.

“We’re certainly looking for some leadership in both houses to understand this issue … there’s decades of information that optometrists are safely prescribing these medications for patients,” he added. “Patients are coming into our offices expecting to be treated for their eye conditions and being told they have to go elsewhere for multiple appointments, sometimes with practitioners who are not as well versed in eye care as we are.”

He said there are about 3,000 optometrists in New York, and 18 of the state’s 62 counties do not have practicing ophthalmologists, though 15 of those have optometrists. “There’s a definite access to care issue,” he said.

The Optometric Association held its annual lobbying day this week, meeting with legislators and handing out a letter supporting the bill from David Heath, the president of SUNY College of Optometry in New York City.

Heath said the college provides the training to optometry students to dispense drugs and meet national standards for care.

“It’s ironic that New York state, which is otherwise a leader in healthcare nationally, is so far out of step with 48 other states in modernizing its scope of practice laws affecting optometry,” he said.

Ophthalmologists perform eye surgery and patients usually end up seeing them after first consulting with an optometrist. In the one of the many quirks of state law, optometrists are prohibited from writing drug prescriptions, though non-doctor physician assistants who work for ophthalmologists can dole out medications. Optometrists note that PAs have less medical training than they do.

Optometrists held their annual lobbying day in Albany this week, urging a vote on the bill sponsored by state Sen. Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester.

Libous is the Senate’s deputy conference leader for legislative operations, in charge of bringing bills up for votes. But all his office would say this week was that the bill remains in the Higher Education Committee. It is also stuck in committee in the Assembly.

The bill “authorizes optometrists certified to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for the treatment or prevention of ocular disease, to also use specified oral pharmaceutical agents in their practices; requires completion of a 25-hour phase-three therapeutic pharmaceutical agent certification course of didactic education; permits the commissioner of health to recommend other categories of drugs that may also be prescribed.”